Reclining chairs



Oct. 31, 1961 s. FLETCHER RECLINING CHAIRS 4 Sheets-$heet 1 Original Filed Dec. 8, 1955 J 5 e n n W. 5 7

Oct. 31, 1961 P. s. FLETCHER RECLINING CHAIRS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Dec. 8, 1955 INVENTOR. Pefer aflzei c'fier CZ-FZOF'HQQSK Oct. 31, 1961 P. s. FLETCHER 3,006,686

RECLINING CHAIRS Original Filed Dec. 8, 1955 4 SheetsSheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

Oct. 31, 1961 P. s. FLETCHER RECLINING CHAIRS Original Filed Dec. 8, 1955 9w 8 6 I v 93 v I 89 .96

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Ch forneys.

United States Patent Ofilicc 3,006,686 Patented Oct. 31, 1951 3,006,686 RECLINING CHAIRS Peter Stewart Fletcher, Boynton Beach, Fla, assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla. Original application Dec. 8, 1955, Ser. No. 551,876. Divided and this application Feb. 4, 1959, Ser. N 796,191 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-84) This invention relates to chairs having adjustable legsupporting rests or platforms, and more particularly to a chair which may be tilted or adjusted into a position in which the erson occupying the chair is in different reclining positions, and with which the leg rest is adjustable upwardly into a leg-supporting position automatically when the chair is adjusted into a reclining position.

This is a division of my copending application Serial No. 551,876, filed December 8, 1955, now abandoned.

An object of the invention is to provide a chair with an adjustable leg-supporting rest or platform, wherein the lcgsupporting platform will be automatically elevated into leg-supporting position when the chair is operated into a position to support a person in a more or less reclining position; with which the elevation of the legsupporting platform will be effected automatically without any special action on the part of the person reclining in the chair, and with which the leg-supporting platform or foot rest will be automatically moved into and in effective position automatically when a person reclining in the chair moves the seat and back into a normal chair position; and which will be relatively simple, dependable, practical and inexpensive.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of several embodiments of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying rawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a chair constructed in accordance with this invention, but having the front side in the view omitted in order to show interior linkages;

FIG. la is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic linkage which is employed to elevate the leg-supporting platform or rest;

FIG. 2 is a similar view but with the chair in reclining position and the leg rest elevated;

FIG. 3 is a side view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a modification of the novel linkage for elevating the leg supporting platform;

FIG. 3a. is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic linkage which is employed in elevating the leg-supporting platform separate from the other linkage employed in the chair;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but with the chair in reclining position and the leg rest elevated;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating still another modification thereof;

FIG. 5a is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic linkage for elevating the leg-supporting platform separately from the other linkage employed in the chair;

FIG. 6 is a View similar to FIG. 5, except that the chair is in reclining position, with the leg-supporting platform elevated.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7a is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic linkage employed in this embodiment for elevating the leg support; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to. FIG. 7, except that the chair is in the reclining position with the leg rest elevated into its effective position.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS.

1, 1a and 2, the improved chair includes a support I having upstanding sides 2 on a base 3, the base including members 4 ad 5 connecting the upright side members 2. Disposed between the side members and above the base is a back rest 6 which is pivotally supported on pivot pins 7 carried by the upright side members 2 at each side of the. back rest. The chair also includes a seat 8 which is pivotally supported at its rear end also on the pivot pins 7 so as to extend forwardly from the lower part of the back rest 6. A leg-supporting platform or rest 9 is disposed between the upright members 2 below the forward end of the seat 8 while the chair is in its normal or sitting position, with the back rest upright.

The leg-supporting rest or platform 9 is adjustable on the support 1 in the following manner: there are two pairs of links which are separately connected to the leg support 9 and to the support 1. One pair of links includes links 19 and 11, the link 10 being pivoted at 12 to the support 1 and the other link 11 being pivoted at 13 to the leg platform or support 9. These two links it) and 11 are pivotally connected together at 14. The other pair of links includes a link 15 which is pivoted at 16 to the support 1 and a link 17 which is pivotally connected at 18 to the leg support or platform 9. The links 15 and 17 are always pivotally connected together by pin 19. In this embodiment of the invention the link 10 of the first pair of links is provided with an extension 20 beyond the pivot 24, and this extension at its free end, is pivoted at 21 to the link 17 at a point on link 17 between the pivotal connection to the leg-supporting platform and the pivot 19 between the links of that pair. The two pairs of links are provided at each side of the seat 8 and the connections 13 and 18 to the leg-supporting platform are arranged approximately dircctly above one another, as shown in F168. 1 and la when the leg-supporting platform is in its inactive position below the front end of the seat 8. The pivots l2 and 16 are carriedby the adjacent side upright 2.

To operate this basic linkage, the back rest 6 extends downwardly below its pivotal support 7 and is pivoted at 22 to one end of a connecting link 23, the other end of the link 23 being pivotally connected at 2 4 to a guiding link 25 which is generally upright and pivoted at its upper end by a pin 26 to the adjacent upright side member 2 of the support 1. The link 23 is connected to this guiding link 25 intermediate of the ends of the latter and the lower end of the link 25 is pivoted at 27 to one end of an actuating link 28, the other end of which is pivoted by pin 29 to one of the links of the pairs of links, such as to an intermediate point on the link 15. The seat 8 is provided on its lower face with a lug 30 which depends from the seat and is pivoted at 31 to one end of a link 32, the other end of which is pivotally connected at 33 to the guiding link 25 between the connection of that link to the link 23 and the pivot 26. on the upright support 2. This link 32 connects the seat 8 well forwardly from the pivot 7 of the seat, and through its connection to the guiding link 25 serves to support the forward part of the seat 8 from descent beyond the normal position shown in FIG. 1.

When the chair is intended to be used in the manner of an ordinary chair, the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 1. If now one desires to recline in the chair, one may tilt backwardly against the back rest 6, which rocks the back rest from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 2, and during this rocking movement of the back rest 6 the lower end of the back rest acts through the link 23 to rock the guiding link 25 clockwise in FIGS. 1 and 2, which performs two functions, one of which is to push endwise on the link 32 which elevates the forward end of the seat 8 by rocking it on its pivot 7 so as to be rearwardly and downwardly inclined at its rear edge, and the other of which is to push endwise on the actuating link 28.

Since the actuating link is connected to the link 15 of one of the pairs of links that supports the leg-supporting platform 9, this endwise push on the link 28 which is imparted by the link 25 will serve to rock the links 15 and 17 to the left in FIG. 1. Since the pairs of links are connected together by extensions 20, the action of both pairs of links at each side will shift the rest 9 upwardly and forwardly into an inclined position in front of the forward end of the seat 8. Thus, a person reclining in the chair While in this position will have the leg-supporting platform elevated into a position to support the legs in a comfortable, reclining position. When one desires to return to an upright position where the chair is used in anormal chair position, one merely rocks his body forwardly in the chair which releases the pressure on the back rest 6 and the weight of ones body on the seat returns the mechanism to sitting position at the same time retracting the leg-supporting platform 9 back into the inactive position shown in FIG. 1.

Referring next to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 3, 3a and 4, the back rest 6 is pivoted at 7 to the support 1, as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the seat 8 is pivoted on the same pivot 7. The back rest 6 descends below its pivot 7, as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is similarly connected at its lower end by pivot 22 to the connecting link 23. The leg-supporting platform or rest 9 is disposed below the front edge of the seat 8, and it is also supported on two pairs of links at each side thereof, which pairs of links are generally similar to those illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. One of these links is link 102, which is pivoted at one end by pivot 103 to the support 1, and the other link 34 of that pair is pivoted by pin 35 to the other end of the link 102. This link 34 is also pivoted at 36 to the leg support 8. The other pair of links is formed of links 37 and 38 which are pivoted together by pin 39. Link 37 is pivotally connected by pin 40 to the leg support 9 in a position above the pin 36, and the link 38 is pivotally connected by pin 41 to the support 1. The link 34 of one pair of links has an extension 42 beyond the pivot 35 that connects the links of that pair together, and this extension 42 is piovtally connected at 43 to an extension 44 of the link 38.

The connecting link '23 is pivotally connected by pin 45 to the lever 38 intermediate of its pivot pins 41 and 39, so that when the back rest 6 is tilted rearwardly, the connecting link 23 will be moved endwise and rock the lever 38 of the second pair of links in a direction to push the leg rest 9 forwardly. A control link 46 is pivoted at 47 to a lug 48 depending from the lower face of the seat 8, and at its other end the link 46 is pivoted at 49 to the link 38. Thus, at the same time that the guiding link 23 rocks the lever 38 forwardly to elevate the leg rest 9 and tilt it into an inclined position, the lever 38 of the second pair of links, acting through link 46, will elevate the seat at its forward end by rocking it on the pivot 7. At the same time that the leg rest is moved forwardly by the rocking of link 38, the link 34 will be pushed forwardly at a faster rate than the pivot 40 because of the fact that the pivot 43 between the link 38 and the first pair of links will move the lower pivot 36 on rest 9 more rapidly than the pivot 40. This is because the pivot pin 43 which is on an extension of the link 34 is farther from the rocking pivot 41 than the pivot 39, which is connected through the link 37 to the upper pivot 40 on the leg rest. Thus, in FIGS. 3, 3a, and 4, whenever the back rest is tilted backwardly, the leg rest 9 will be moved upwardly and forwardly into the position shown in FIG. 4.

Considering next the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, a and 6 the arrangement is generally the same as that of FIGS. 1 to 4. In this embodiment however, the back rest 6 and the seat 8 are rigidly connected together as one unit, so that-when the back rest 6 is tilted rearwardly, the rearward edge of the seat 8 will be tilted downwardly. For this puropse the combined seat and back rest have a depending lug 50 which is pivotally connected by pin 51 to one end of an arcuate lever 52 which is, in turn, pivotally mounted on the support 1 by a pin or rod 53. The lever 52 extends downwardly and rearwardly from this connection to the combined seat and back rest, and at its free end is pivotally connected by pin 54 to one end of a connecting link 55.

The leg rest or support 9 is disposed below the front end of the seat 8, as in FIGS. 1 to 4, and it is also mounted by two pairs of links at each side of the rest 9. One pair of links which support the leg rest 9 includes a link 56 which is pivoted by pin 57 to the leg rest 9. The other link 58 of that pair is pivotally connected at one end by pin 59 to the support 1, and the other end of link 58 is pivotally connected by hinge 60 to the link 56. The other pair of links at each side of the seat includes a link 61 which is pivotally connected at one end by the pin 62 to the leg rest 9 below the pivot 57. The other link 63 of that pair is pivotally connected at one end by the pin 64 to the support 1, and at its other end is connected by the pin 65 to the other end of the link 61. The link 56 of the one pair has an extension 66 beyond its hinge connection 60, and at its free end is connected by a pivot pin 67 to the link 63 between its ends.

The forward portion of the seat 8 is provided with a depending lug 68 which is connected by pivot pin 69 to one end of the control link 70, the other end of which is pivotally connected by pin 71 to a lug 72 on the support 1. The end of the connecting link 55 that is opposite from its connection to pin 54 is pivotally connected at 73 to the link 58 of the first pair of links at a point intermediate the ends of that link. With this arrangement, whenever the combined back rest 6 and seat 8 is moved rearwardly, it will rock the lever 52 clockwise in FIGS. 5 and 6 and thus push the connecting link 55 endwise, to the left in FIGS. 5 and 6. When the connecting link 55 is pushed endwise, it acts through its pivot. pin 73 on the lever 58 of the first pair to move the link 56 endwise, which pushes the upper edge of the leg rest 9 upwardly and forwardly.

At the same time, the link 61, which is connected to the lower pivot on the leg rest 9, is also pushed forwardly and upwardly in an endwise direction, because of the fact that the link 63 of the second pair of links is rocked in a counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 5 and 6, but since the connection from the link 61 to the link 63, which is at the pivot 65, is farther from the rocking axis 64 than is the extension 66 of the link 56, the lower part of the leg rest 9 will be moved proportionally faster than the pivot pin 57, and thus the leg rest 9 will not only be moved upwardly and forwardly, but will be rocked into an inclined position, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. When the combined seat and back rest are rocked or moved forwardly, a reverse action in the linkage takes place, and for the same reasons and by the same mechanisms, the leg rest 9 is moved downwardly and rearwardly into its normal, upright position beneath the front edge of the seat 8.

Considering next the embodiment or modification shown in FIGS. 7, 7a and 8, the seat 8 and the back rest 6 are made in one unit, as explained in FIGS. 5 and 6. This unit of seat and back rest is disposed over the support 1 between the side members 2. The seat and back rest unit is provided below the back rest portion with 21 depending lug 74 which is pivoted by pin 75 to one end of a lever 76, which is pivoted on pin 77 carried by the side members 2. The lower end of this lever 76 is connected by a pin 78 to one end of a connecting link 79. The leg-supporting rest or platform 9 is normally disposed in an upright position beneath the forward edge of the seat 8, and it is supported at each side by two pairs of links which are shown schematically in FIG. 7a. One pair of links at each side includes links 80 and 81 which are hinged together at 82. The link 81 is also pivoted at one end by pin 83 to the support 1, and the other link 80 is pivotally connected by pin 84 to the leg rest 9.

The other pair of links at each side includes a link 85 and a link 86 which are pivotally connected together by a hinge or pin 87. The link 85 is also pivotally connected by pin 88 to the leg rest 9 below the pin 84. The link 86 is pivotally connected by pin 89 to the support 1. The link 85 is extended beyond the hinge 87 to form an extension 90, and the link 81 is also extended beyond its hinge 82 to form an extension 91. The forward part of the seat 8 is provided with a depending lug 94, which is pivotally connected by pin 95 to one end of a link 96, the other end of which is pivoted at 97 to a lug 98 on the support 1.

The connecting link 79 is pivotally connected by pin 93 to the link 86 intermediate of its ends. When one desires to recline in this chair, the combined seat and back rest is pushed rearwardly into the position shown in FIG. 8, which causes a rocking of the lever 76 on its pivot pin 77 to lower the back rest 6 and push the connecting link 79 endwise to the left in FIGS. 7 and 8. This, in turn, rocks the link 86 counterclockwise in FIGS. 7 and 8, into the position shown in FIG. 8, and since this link 86 is hinged to the link 85, it causes the link 85 to move endwise and rock the leg rest 9 forwardly and upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 8. In view of the pivotally connected extensions 90 and 91, this endwise movement of the link 85 will cause a similar endwise movement of the link 89 to also move the leg rest from the normal position of FIG. 7 into the elevated and inclined position of PEG. 8. Since the pivot pin 82 is nearer the rocking axis of pin 83 than the pin 92 for any angular movement of the lever 81 which is caused by the extension 98, the link 88 will not be moved endwise as much as the link 85 with this extension 99, and thus the link 85 will, by its greater linear travel, tilt the leg rest 9 into an inclined position as shown in FIG. 8.

At the same time that the leg rest is elevated to the position shown in FIG. 8, the seat 8 in moving rearwardly with the back rest will rock the link 96 clockwise in FIGS. 7 and 8, which slightly lowers the forward end of the seat 8 and continues to support the forward part of the seat 8. Since the link 96 is nearly vertical when the seat and back rest are in their normal chair position for sitting upright, any movement of the link 96 clockwise in FIGS. 7 and 8 will slightly lower the forward part of the seat 8, but as will be observed by a comparison of FIGS. 7 and 8, the pivot hinge 75 will move downwardly to a much greater distance than the pivot pin 95, so that the rear of the seat 8 as well as the back rest will be lowered more than the forward end of the seat 8, which will give the seat and back rest the desired reclining position. To move the seat and back rest back into the normal chair position, one merely pulls the seat and back rest forwardly into the FIG. 7 position.

It will be noted that the pivot pin 75 has moved past a vertical plane through the pivot 77 as the chair moved into its upright sitting position and, therefore, the weight of a person sitting in the chair will urge the lever 76 in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7, but this farther movement counterclockwise is limited by the engagement of the link 86 with a bar 99 on the base of the support 1. Thus, the seat and back rest remain in a stable position while one is sitting in the chair. It will be noted that when the seat and back rest are moved into their reclining positions, the pivot pin 75 will have passed through a vertical plane containing the axis of the pivot pin 77, so that the weight of a person in the chair will urge the lever 76 in a clockwise direction.

Stops and friction devices, known in the art and not shown, are used to limit the end positions of the seat and back rest and hold the linkage in any desired position.

It will be understood that various changes in the details and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and a seat mounted on said support to tilt between upright and tilted positions, a leg rest disposed adjacent and below the front of said seat, two pairs of links at each side of said seat, the links of each pair being hinged together, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the leg rest and the other link of each pair being pivotally connected to said support, the pairs of links at each side of said seat being operatively interconnected through an extension of at least one link of one pair beyond its hinge, and the links of each pair which are pivotally connected to said support having such connections to the support at the lower ends of those links, and means connected to one of said pairs of links and operable automatically when the back rest is tilted for causing advance and elevation of said leg rest when the back rest is moved into tilted position, and for causing retraction of said leg rest when the back rest returns to its upright position, said means that is connetced to one of said pairs of links including a lever pivoted intermediate of its ends on said support and having one arm connected with said back rest and a link connecting the other arm of said lever with one of said pairs of links.

2. An adjustable chair comprising a support, a back rest and a seat mounted on said support to tilt between upright and tilted positions, a leg rest disposed adjacent and below the front of said seat, two pairs of links at each side of said seat, the links of each pair being hinged together, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the leg rest and the other link of each pair being pivotally connected to said support, the pairs fo links at each side of said seat being operatively interconnected through an extension of at least one link of one pair beyond its hinge, and the links of each pair which are pivotally connected to said support having such connections to the support at the lower ends of those links, and means connected to one of said pairs of links and operable automatically when the back rest is tilted for causing advance and elevation of said leg rest when the back rest is moved into tilted position, and for causing retraction of said leg rest when the back rest returns to its upright position.

3. The chair as set forth in claim 2, wherein said other links of said two pairs, at each side of said seat, being arranged in tandem forwardly and rearwardly, one in the rear of the other, and said extension of said one link of one pair being connected to the rearmost link in said tandem arrangement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,670,030 Richardson Feb. 23, 1954 2,693,845 Hoffman Nov. 9, 1954 2,727,561 Bank et a1 Dec. 20, 1955 2,750,988 Luckhardt June 19, 1956 

